Search results for:

£26.

Yes! One of the last 56cm in 'Belgian Blue'.

Big day!

I have an Ultegra 11-28, used for just under 800km with Squirt chain lube. Let me know if that'd be of interest.

Jelly Fish Legs and Dauntsey Dawdle are both nice, but I'd say they both came out closer to 4,000m.

I preferred a midday start for a 400; got a full night's sleep, hammered it and finished around 6am in time to get the first train home before the dozies set it. Didn't even need a 2am Pro Plus!

I'd rather have to wear a long sleeve jersey than deal with the humidity we had if I'm being honest! Geo on the Mash is very unforgiving for Audax though :/

I tweaked the back of my left knee on Saturday, hopefully nothing major but I'm going to err on the side of caution and sit this one out :(

Ride Report - Thanet Platinum 200

@youramericanlover , @jmg412 and I rode this one on Saturday. In my infinite wisdom, I decided to ride this one fixed. I hadn’t ridden a significant distance fixed for quite some time so in the lead up to this I rode Tuesday Hills fixed, if I could do that then surely I could do a 200, right? Well, we set off from Goody Ales in Herne Common under skies and through thick, almost tropical jungle levels of humidity, really quite difficult to get any air in. Rolling easy through fairly quirt lanes we whistled past the first info control at 15km and were quickly into the Kent Downs and a few little climbs, all good apart from having left waaaaay too much slack on my chain, inertia getting the best of me so I just continued with a gappy pedal stroke.

Over the M20 and into lanes around Charing, Little Chart and towards Biddenden that certainly felt familiar; having left it so long since riding fixed I wasn’t super confident descending and wasn’t really ‘letting go’, thankful that for once the canti brakes were (shock horror!) actually providing some stopping power… who’d have thunk it! Into the High Weald and before long we were at first proper control at 70km, Hawkhurst. Waitrose meal deal of sushi duck rolls, crisps and a smoothie. A brief shower was actually welcome, what wasn’t was the sharp descent into Salehurst that almost saw the duck rolls make an unwelcome second appearance. We continued through rolling hills past Dallington and out of the High Weald to the halfway control at Pevensey Services. Falafel wrap, pineapple, chocolate milk and blue Powerade. The pineapple and leftover crisps from the previous stop worked in perfect synchronicity to cut my mouth up, inspired choice that. I pocketed the chocolate milk, took up some of the slack on my chain and we made our way across the Pevensey Levels towards the sea.

We expected a headwind for the return leg but it was a very, very light breeze which we were pleasantly surprised with. Past Normans Bay and Bexhill-on-Sea through a brief section of shared paths and then onto Hastings, which as a bit grim. Loads of traffic on the seafront and the promenade was also very busy. Stiff climb out of Hastings on Old London Road was grim, the climb was testing off but that road is just shit and was busy as when we hit it. Turning off towards Fiarlight improved things a bit and we continued to Winchelsea, through Rye and the Military Road which just seemed to go on, and on…

We were rolling well though but as we came back over the M20 I was starting to feel it, neck was quite stiff and I had a concerning twinge on the back of my left knee, probably those sharp descents and my lack of souplesse. We made it to Brabourne Lees control at 173km, a Premier with a couple of kids milling around outside and an Audi with a skittish alarm and two dogs in the boot parked up. I was not in a good place so it was time for drastic measures, a second blue Powerade. Shortly after rolling out we hit a climb up Weeks Lane and just as it kicked up a notch near the top I decided discretion was the better part of valour and walked the last bit. I hung on to Dan’s wheel most of the way back until the blue Powerade kicked in and I decided to give the last couple of lumps full gas, not wise in the slightest but it was fun.

Made it back to Goody Ales at 6pm for a very nice pork pie that was included in the entry fee. Excellent day out and a nice route, but one that could certainly be improved in a few places.

Jeez, no fixie?! That cracking sound you just heard was @youramericanlover 's heart breaking :(

I have faith you'll be able to rustle something up!

He'd already Ninja-hit the 'I'm attending' button. he knows full well I was referring to him with the below!

an OG to nose-breathe their way around

will @amey grace us with his presence? @PhilDAS to make a cameo?! And I know I'm not going to be the only one on an overpriced Mash, right @Glws ? Local hitter @andyp to show us all how it's done? @falconvitesse wouldn't dream of missing these rides!

Dates are:
19th Oct
9th Nov
7th Dec

Couple more opportunities for you to join us :)

oh lawd that looks rapid!!!

Moderate Days '24 - https://www.lfgss.com/events/10154/

Come one, come all.

Hello fellow fixie rouleurs, how do you do? Whilst I may not have @youramericanlover 's souplesse, lushious beard or 'merican craic, I don't live in the arse end of the north Kent coast. So with his blessing, and much assistance from @WhitleyJay , I'm going to take the helm on these.

For the uninitiated, we aim to run a series of shorter FG/SS rides in preparation for The Big One, Hard Day in January '25. Anyone who is HDIJ-curious is welcome, as well as anyone who just fancies a fixed group ride in the autumn. Excellent opportunity to shake down that dusty fixie and if you like it, maybe come to the next ride and before you know it you're in the final 1/3 of HDIJ questioning your life choices :)

We'll start at Elmers End in SE London around 8:30am, do between a 75-120kms loop with a few hills, cafe stop somewhere and then make our way back. The idea is to chat, see some friendly faces and hopefully some new ones too, see where our legs are at and whether our sweet fixies need any tinkering before taking on HDIJ. As always, these will be no-heroics, no-drop, get-around-safely-and-have-fun rides. There should be at least a couple of experienced riders each time we ride to help out just in case.

You can expect:
• a steady, rolling ride
• some hills that are possibly harder than RWGPS suggests
• me to mumble obscenities as we climb
• an OG to nose-breathe their way around

Dates are:
19th Oct
9th Nov
7th Dec

19th October route:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48319177

9th November route:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48865755

7th December route:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49106049

Fab, will order. Thank you!

Away from torque wrench chat for a sec, thoughts on the Feedback Sports Cassette Pliers?

I'm just out here living for a rim brake Indian summer.

.

You are correct, new bike coming. It is an import.

Postman delivered today...

I was staying in Alnmouth! Such a beautiful place and Scott's is wicked, pretty much a daily visit.

Incidentally, on my day out into the Borders I made it to Kelso and had lunch at a bistro called Scott's of Kelso, excellent lunch but no association with the one in Alnmouth though.

I feel like I've only scratched the surface of the lanes up there, but being able to just get into it straight away with no junk miles to 'get to the lanes' as is de rigueur in London was so, so nice. Just really great riding both near the coastline and further inland, next time I'll try to explore around Kielder Forest.

.

Spent some time in Northumberland recently, took the Fairlight with me and managed to get a bit of riding done either side of some storms, main highlight was a 218km day out that took me into the Borders.

Quiet roads even in the middle of school holidays on the bit between Bamburgh and Amble which is very touristy. Wind was relentless. Fairlight ticked over 10,000kms.

Hills tomorrow, who's in?